Nao Kodaira, a gold medalist in the women's 500 meters speed skating at the Pyeongchang Olympics, who finished her last race on the 22nd of this month, held a retirement interview, saying, ``It was a roller coaster with mountains and valleys.'' I looked back on my competitive life.
Kodaira, 36, from Nagano Prefecture, participated in the women's 500 meters at the All Japan Distance Championships on the 22nd of this month as her last race, winning her eighth straight victory.
On the 27th, she held a press conference in Tokyo from the afternoon, reported her retirement again, and answered questions from the press about her future activities.
In this, Kodaira said about his last race as an active player, "It was a dream-like space, so I pinched my cheeks every morning to confirm that it was real. Everyone who was there created that space. My heart still trembles when I think that he gave it to me,” he said.
And about his competitive life, "It was like a roller coaster with peaks and valleys. I never looked back and always looked forward. I'd be lying if I said I never had a hard time. , the last day of the race, it was clean.”
Regarding the Olympics, which he participated in four times, he said frankly, "I definitely grew up there. I want it to be something that purely brightens the world and connects people, not something that is used." I spoke.
As for the future, he will be appointed as a specially appointed professor at Shinshu University, his home university, and plans to start teaching classes from January next year. , I think it will be a good one."